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Thursday, January 06, 2011

Under My Plow: Bloomberg's Ratings Plunge As He Offers a Couple of Sacrificial Lambs Following Snow Disaster

With a 100% chance of the flaky white stuff headed our way tomorrow, it seems like a great time for Titanic Captain Mike "Nolabels" Bloomberg to rearrange the deck chairs. Now I know why he wants us all to cut down on our salt intake. He needs it to help clear his precious bike paths dotting the city. Anyway, nearly two weeks after he kissed his presidential aspirations goodbye (even though he's not running, of course), he kicks a couple of sanitation honchos to the curb, where they're sure to collect a comfy salary and pension.

Oh, the pain.

The heads just keep on rolling following last month's botched blizzard cleanup.

The city said today that two Sanitation Department bosses in Brooklyn were demoted "after examining our performance during the massive blizzard" and will install GPS devices in trucks that will plow parts of the outer boroughs.

The men that will be reassigned are Brooklyn South Assistant Chief Joseph Montgomery and Brooklyn South Deputy Chief Joseph Susol, although the city did not give a specific reason as to why they were being replaced.

"After examining our performance during the massive blizzard that hit us the day after Christmas, among the things we found were that structural and personnel changes were in order in Brooklyn to create a more balanced operation," said Sanitation Department Commissioner John Doherty.

The move comes a day after the city demoted EMS Chief John Peruggia as part of a post-blizzard shakeup.

The city was hit with 20 inches of snow on Dec. 26-27, with parts of Brooklyn and Queens remained paralyzed for days after the sanitation department failed to plow streets.

More snow is expected to fall on Friday, although forecasts call for as little as three inches in most parts of the city.

At a new conference at City Hall this afternoon, Mayor Bloomberg also outlined a plan to install GPS trackers in 50 Sanitation trucks, effective Friday, to help us "communicate" with drivers in Brooklyn.

"These are only initial improvements," Bloomberg vowed, saying they will have more improvements to announce next week.

"We're going to do better next time," he added.

This time last week he was belligerent and defiant, he'd done nothing wrong, and shut up and bask in his aura.

Today he sounds a bit less defiant. I can't wait until the media starts polling him in the wake of this debacle.

The city also said it will improve training procedures for all sanitation workers, who The Post reported last week had, in some cases, intentionally slowed down the cleanup as part of a union action in response to department budget cuts. Neighborhoods like Dyker Heights and Borough Park, both located in Southern Brooklyn, were intentionally targeted by drivers.

Bloomberg and Doherty have said there was no deliberate work stoppage.

A poll taken after the storm showed Bloomberg's approval rating had plunged from 50% to 37% and only one in five New Yorkers think he handled it well.

At a press conference to address the city response to snow expected to fall today, Bloomberg stood with two embattled underlings - Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith and Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty.

Not present was Joe Bruno, head of the Office of Emergency Management, said to be on thin ice for not mobilizing fast enough.

Bloomberg stammered awkwardly as he denied yelling at Bruno during a meeting and said the commissioner was absent because he was preparing for today's expected bad weather.

I just hope the grounds in front of the Ground Zero mosque area are properly cleared tomorrow. We don't want to offend his few remaining supporters.

Let's look at the upside: It's taken a natural disaster to save us from the political disaster known as Michael Bloomberg.